In early autumn, Authorium attended the Washington State IT Industry Forum, which brought together state and technology providers to foster greater collaboration. Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech) functions as the backbone of the state’s core technology services and delivers robust, strategic information security to protect vital state networks and oversees major IT initiatives to streamline state government operations. WaTech’s reach extends beyond state agencies, supporting county, city, and Tribal governments, as well as public-benefit nonprofits.
Bill Kehoe, WaTech Director and Washington State Chief Information Officer, delivered the keynote address at the Forum, where he shared strategies for modernizing government and the power of industry partnerships to drive better outcomes.
Read on for several key takeaways that other CIOs and leaders may consider when building a future-ready public sector.
“Public + Private = Success”
The State of Washington is positioned for success. Between the One Washington effort, intended to modernize the enterprise administrative functions for finance, procurement, budget, human resources and payroll, and the Governor’s September 2025 executive order focused on improved customer experience and service delivery, it’s clear that the State prioritizes taking action to improve State operations. To top that off, Kehoe says, “we have great people…great leaders, very committed to customer service, to modernizing their services, and it just gets better all the time.”
With these internal resources, the State continues to turn to private-sector partners to realize this vision.
“It takes all of us,” Kehoe says. “We have to realize that we’re in a time of change in terms of government services.” The CIO challenged the industry partners to consider how they are responding to the current moment – of budget limitations and the need for better customer service delivery, among other circumstances – and adjusting their model to serve the government and agencies of the future, and by extension – better serve the residents.
Start Small and Allow Space for Growth
Gone are the days when the State will buy products just because they like them. The CIO acknowledged that “finding new money is almost impossible” and challenged vendors to “pull out all of the stops” to be successful together. “We will buy high quality, fair market rate products that can integrate across the enterprise, but we’re not going to buy [a vendor’s] entire stack.”
“The last thing we need is a brand spanking new system, millions of dollars with legacy business processes…Every single initiative and project, we have to look at our business processes and we have to modernize them as well.”
Kehoe acknowledges a successful proof of concept or grant-funded project could be the start of a larger conversation or ongoing partnership between an agency and a vendor partner.
Demand the Same Commitment to Public Service as Your Own Team
When working with vendors or partners, insist that they have the same commitment to your mission as the government teams themselves. While some tech companies chase after the next big thing, Kehoe reminds vendors of the importance of integrating into government processes, offices, local governments, and enterprise services across the state or entity. “Everything needs to be integrated. If you have a product or service on the industry side and it doesn’t talk to anything, you better go change that product or service,” he says.
Furthermore, Kehoe challenges potential vendors to do their homework and really understand what’s happening in agencies before setting up time to promote their own products. He encourages vendors to “get out there and grind” – by connecting with agencies, understanding their needs, exploring existing strategies, figuring out use cases, and identifying gaps in service. To vendors, he says, “ensure we get the best of you and your resources at all times – resources, products, services…Be committed to public service as much as we have to be in the State and show us that.”
Check out the full keynote video here.
Authorium is a public benefit corporation that exclusively serves government teams to modernize administrative processes. 60% of Authorium’s team have served in government themselves. From procurement to grant management to CLM and more, we help government teams improve processes and better deliver services to residents.
Read more about how we’re helping one State of Washington agency streamline travel data.
Image credit: Vickie Sheehan, WaTech
